Sderot: 2 wounded in Qassam barrage

Two people were lightly wounded and nine others suffered from shock after Palestinian terror groups in northern Gaza launched a barrage of eight Qassam rockets towards Israel late Wednesday evening. Two of the rockets landed in the town of Sderot, causing structural damage near the town's commercial center.

Exposed

No protection from Qassam rockets in ‘transit camps’ / Zvi Lavi

Many immigrants from USSR still live in temporary housing with crumbling walls, no safe rooms, are wholly unprotected from Qassam rocket attacks

Security forces have yet to confirm where the remaining rockets crashed.

The military wings of the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Resistance Committee's - the al-Quds Brigades and the Salah a-Din Brigades - claimed responsibility for the Qassam barrages.

The last barrage bring to 17 the total number of rockets fired on Wednesday, a significant increase compared to numbers recorded in recent days. No injuries were reported in any of the incidents earlier in the day, however damage was caused to several buildings.

In a separate incident during the morning hours, Palestinian snipers opened fire at farmers tending their fields in Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha. No injuries were reported.

According to an eyewitness in the kibbutz, the blast from the rocket shattered the windows of her neighbor's house. "Shrapnel flew into the nearby houses. It's a miracle that greater damage was prevented."

The landing site at Sha'ar Hanegev (Photo: Tsafrir Abayov)

The houses in the kibbutz, like in other kibbutzim in the area, have not been fortified against Qassams.

Although rocket attacks from the Strip have dramatically decreased recently, Palestinians still fire Qassams and mortar shells on Israel
almost every day.

'Gaza lull deceptive'

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Dan Gillerman warned
UN Security Council members on Tuesday that the recent lull in Gaza was deceptive and superficial.

"Though some wish to refer to the apparent lull in Hamas’ rocket attacks, I must warn that the perceived quiet is only on the surface," Gillerman said. "The bombs keep ticking, albeit quietly."

"The rockets out of Gaza have not stopped. Hamas is using this time to smuggle in and produce more rockets," the UN envoy said. "It is a silent promise – a promise of what is to come next: more terror and more violence, more extremism and more bloodshed."